Malcolm Allan President Bloom Consulting

Malcolm has been a practicing place and destination brand strategy consultant since 2003. Prior to that he worked in the fields of town planning and economic development in the UK, in central and local government, as a consultant, and as a CEO of major economic development and training companies. Malcolm merged his Placematters consultancy with Bloom Consulting, where he is now President. Malcolm worked with Bloom through 2016 and 2017 on the brand strategy for Paraguay, on a 2017 project assessing the impact of the country brand of Costa Rica in the US, the UK and Europe, and on a nation branding project for Australia.

Simon Anholt Policy Advisor and Founder Good Country Index, Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index and City Brands Index

Simon Anholt has advised the presidents, prime ministers and governments of 55 countries during the last 20 years, helping them to engage more imaginatively and effectively with the international community. He first coined the term ‘nation brand’ in 1998 and is widely acknowledged as the creator of the concept of place branding.

He publishes the Anholt-Ipsos  Nation Brands Index and City Brands Index, two surveys which since 2005 have collected more than a billion data points tracking the images of cities and countries worldwide. He also publishes the Good Country Index, a survey that ranks countries on their contribution to humanity and the planet, and in 2016 launched the Global Vote, which enables anybody in the world to vote in the elections of other countries.

Simon’s TED  talk launching the Good Country Index has received 5.7million views, and his more recent one launching  the Global Vote, over a million.

He has written five books about countries, cultures and globalisation.

Colin Ferguson President & CEO Travel Manitoba

Colin Ferguson joined Travel Manitoba as President and CEO in early 2011. Since then, he’s had the opportunity to travel to all corners of the province experiencing all that makes Manitoba an ideal travel destination. Well known in Winnipeg’s advertising and marketing community, prior to joining Travel Manitoba, he was partner in Ferguson Walker Marketing Communications and earlier, Senior Partner and General Manager of Palmer Jarvis Advertising/Palmer Jarvis DDB, working with local, provincial and national clients. He has also been active in the not-for-profit sector, as one of the founding directors of Partners in the Park, now Assiniboine Park Conservancy; president of the Children’s Hospital Research Foundation; and strategic planning and marketing lead for Winnipeg’s hosting of the 1999 Pan Am Games.

He too is the Founder of the Canadian Women’s Bandy team headquartered in Winnipeg... currently ranked fourth in the World.

Tomas Grigalevičius PR advisor Kaunas City Municipality

Marketing professional with long term experience in city branding. Started his career in different medias and afterwards continued in  the area of marketing and communication. In recent years he has been working with image building for the second largest Lithuanian city – Kaunas. During this period Kaunas has become the fastest growing Lithuanian city, leading in the country in respect to investments, new jobs creation and salary growth benchmarks. Moreover in 2018 Kaunas improved its inbound tourists’ number record.

Kim Heinen International Press Officer Rotterdam Partners

"Rotterdam may be Europe's new capital of cool." These kinds of quotes from CNN,Lonely Planet, the New York Times etc., have made Rotterdam very popular in recent years. Through a goal orientated international media strategy Rotterdam managed to change its image for the better. Kim Heinen is the International Press Officer with Rotterdam Partners since 2010. What has she learned from working with the media? How do you build media relations that last and how can you generate awareness and create momentum for your destination? 

Peter Kentie Managing Director Eindhoven 365

In his daytime job Peter is managing director of Eindhoven Marketing, the organisation responsible for the place branding and marketing of Eindhoven region, named Eindhoven365. He also has a big passion for Estonia and decided as an early e-Resident to create value to support the country in marketing and promoting their ambitions to a greater and relevant global audience. He became overnight a superstar in Estonia thanks to his ESTonishing pro bono and open-source marketing concept which received strong public support and became formally accepted by the authorities.

Peter Kjeldbjerg Manager Struer City of Sound

Peter Kjeldbjerg has a strong experience in storytelling and entrepreneurship.

Peter started his career as a journalist and worked in his first years as an editor and host in various Danish broadcast stations.

But for the last 20 years his professional focus has been local development in the north western part of Denmark. In 2003 he became head of a brand new business park and incubator in Holstebro, Nupark.

During his time as CEO at Nupark he raised 100 mill. DKK for new venture funds aiming at seed startups in the region.

Storytelling and an intense focus on communicating Nuparks progress, made the business park grow from 14 tenants to more than 100 in the year 2014. After the succes Peter left Nupark for a new position as Editor in Chief at a local newspaper.

In January 2018 he joined the “City of Sound” project in Struer and became head of a new team and a new (city development) strategy.

Jason McGrath SVP IPSOS

Jason is a research, communications and reputation strategist with 15 years' global experience providing strategic council to public, private and non-profit clients regarding their reputation strategies, competitive positioning, stakeholder engagement, marketing and communications.  Jason consults with clients on their reputation measurement and evaluation programs, and how they can optimise their marketing and communications programming for the greatest reputational impact.  

Martin Schipany Head of department Press and Information Services, City of Vienna

Martin Schipany has been working for the City of Vienna in the field of communications for over 10 years. After two years as media officer of the City Councillor for Urban Development, Traffic and Transport, he joined the City of Vienna Press and Information Services to serve as Head of Urban Communications and Media Planning. At the Press and Information Services, he was Deputy Head of Department for one year before being promoted to Head of Department in 2019.

Kristine Schmidt VP, Strategic Brand & Marketing Capital of Children

Since 2000, Kristine has worked for Danish market leaders across sectors with focus on children. She has 20 years of experience within the private sector and has been responsible for developing and executing product and marketing strategies for 20+ countries.

Her efforts are within strategy, innovation and marketing and specifically within corporate turnarounds and within leapfrogging company growth with innovation, streamlining processes and portfolios.

In 2017, Kristine joined Capital of Children in Denmark where she is in process with turning the brand Capital of Children into a place brand. Capital of Children was executed as an organizational brand since its origin in 2010. Capital of Children is the strategic position and the brand for Billund in Denmark. Children play an important role in the Capital of Children since it is also the hometown of the LEGO company.

Kristine holds a Master of Business Administration and a MBA in Innovation in Complex Systems. She has won several product innovation and design awards for the companies for those she worked.

Jose Torres CEO Bloom Consulting

Bloom Consulting CEO

www.bloom-consulting.com

Since 2003 Mr. Torres has been advising Countries in the field of Nation Branding and City Branding, working directly with heads of state, directors of National Tourism Organizations and Investment Promotion Agencies.

His clients include Countries, Regions and Cities such as Australia, Costa Rica, Israel, Jamaica, Poland, Sweden, Stockholm and many others spread across all five continents.

Mr. Torres collaborates directly with the World Economic Forum in the matters of Nation Branding and is a guest speaker in some of the most prestigious universities in USA and Europe, such as HARVARD, the London Business School, Stockholm School of Economics and many others, being interviewed by The Economist, BBC, Guardian and CNN.

Since 2011 his company performs a global research project called the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking and most recently the Digital Country Index and the Digital City Index

Geerte Udo CEO amsterdam&partners

Geerte Udo has been appointed CEO of amsterdam&partners effective March 2019. She is known as being a decisive connector with vision and a creative spirit.

Together with the amsterdam&partners team, Geerte focusses on one mayor goal: to ensure that the Amsterdam Area remains liveable and prosperous for all the stakeholders.

We do this by seizing opportunities and solving problems, with residents being the focal point of these efforts. Visitors and companies that add value to the Amsterdam Area are also guaranteed a warm welcome. amsterdam&partners focuses on quality rather quantity when it comes to the visitor economy and attracting businesses, conferences, and talent to the region.

Udo looks not only at the issues of today, but also those of tomorrow. How do we ensure that the Amsterdam Area will continue to be a great place to live, work, and study for everyone in the future? A place known for its open and diverse culture, where people have respect for each other and the environment.

The company uses data, new technologies such as artificial intelligence, and storytelling to build on the sustainable reputation of Amsterdam Area. They guide residents, companies, and conferences to familiar and less familiar places and contributes to ways of reducing nuisance.

Udo is a born networker, visionary and connector. But most of all she is a source of inspiration. Creating connections between partners in government, the business community, knowledge institutions, and cultural organizations makes it possible to take up challenges and seize opportunities.

Geerte studied Public Administration at Leiden University. After graduating, she joined the consultancy firm Twijnstra Gudde in 2000 as a consultant. There she worked on issues largely related to alliances and change management in the public sector. In 2006, she moved to Amsterdam Partners and in 2013 she joined the management team of what was then Amsterdam Marketing, now amsterdam&partners. Udo discovered her love for art, culture, and good food at an early age. She has lived in Amsterdam for 20 years.

Edith Wong Chief Marketing Officer Invest Hong Kong

Edith Wong is Chief Marketing Officer at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), a government department tasked to attract, facilitate and retain foreign direct investment into Hong Kong. The department works with companies of all sizes, from startups and SMEs to multinationals, and supports them in every stage from planning, setting up to promotion and expansion. 

She joined InvestHK in 2005 and took up the CMO position in 2015. Her division oversees content marketing, events, public relations, social media, market intelligence and strategic research. Her teams work closely with 31 offices in key markets worldwide to reach out to potential investors and to strengthen and promote Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s premier business location. Recent campaigns launched and spearheaded by InvestHK include the StartmeupHK Festival and Hong Kong Fintech Week.

Prior to joining InvestHK, Edith worked with the Airport Authority Hong Kong and Hong Kong Productivity Council.